GUILTY CA - Gianni, 24, & Sal Belvedere, 22, Ilona Flint, 22, San Diego, 24 Dec 2013 - #3

[thebestinthewest]

When I think of skitzophrenia I think of Amanda Bynes didn't she try to light her dog on fire in someone's driveway

 

[Curious Me]

NBC also says he is skitzo, and other mental issues http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...-Homicide-San-Diego-Competency-280549412.html

"Psychiatrists diagnosed Mercado as schizophrenic, psychotic and suffering from catatonic depression, according to his attorney."


Those are some serious conditions. There must be some mental illness history, or was he never diagnosed until now.
Just my own opinion, but I think this may take the Death Penalty trial off the table for good.

Hmm...I have to pause when I think about CM seeing himself as a hit man or assassin.

One of my friends often talks about the years her sister was developing Schizophrenia symptoms and how her family didn't realize it until her sister started to get into legal trouble in her 20s. The stories she tells me about her sister are real, and have helped me understand the many faces this mental illness can take. Her sister has been on life long treatment and in and out of hospitals ever since.

I've always thought these crimes were committed for a reason, but now I don't know. I still want to know if there is any history of a diagnosis, especially of schizophrenia, or medications before the crimes.

 

[SDHELPS]

"Psychiatrists diagnosed Mercado as schizophrenic, psychotic and suffering from catatonic depression, according to his attorney."


Those are some serious conditions. There must be some mental illness history, or was he never diagnosed until now.
Just my own opinion, but I think this may take the Death Penalty trial off the table for good.

Hmm...I have to pause when I think about CM seeing himself as a hit man or assassin.

One of my friends often talks about the years her sister was developing Schizophrenia symptoms and how her family didn't realize it until her sister started to get into legal trouble in her 20s. The stories she tells me about her sister are real, and have helped me understand the many faces this mental illness can take. Her sister has been on life long treatment and in and out of hospitals ever since.

I've always thought these crimes were committed for a reason, but now I don't know. I still want to know if there is any history of a diagnosis, especially of schizophrenia, or medications before the crimes.

BBM: Certainly something to think about!

ITA that's a lot of serious stuff going on if in fact it's all accurate. I don't think someone could outsmart a competency exam if true. I hope the Deputy DA exercises his right to have an exam completed just to dot the "i" and cross the "t" that everyone is on the same page.

I read up a little on each disease and it appears they are all treatable individually but what about all being combined? Now we need a verified doctor here too! ARGH....

 

[jggordo]

I believe it is important to know what meds Mercado is on. What meds was he on prior to his arrest? The meds he is currently on could and would skew the results of current capacity. He should be evaluated on the same meds he was on or not on when he committed these crimes, no more and no less, IMO. As far as "catatonic depression" that sounds a side effect of his incarceration and heavy anti-depressants.

JMO's

 

[Curious Me]

Schizophrenia: Singular Disease or Cluster of Syndromes?
October 2014
http://counsellingresource.com/features/2014/10/14/schizophrenia-cluster-of-syndromes/

"While it’s long been recognized that the disease can manifest itself in some uniquely different ways — such as catatonia, paranoid ideation, disorganized thinking, blunted emotions, etc. — most clinicians and researchers have always regarded it as a distinct disease. But that perspective is likely to be changing soon as a result of some very recent research suggesting that schizophrenia might not be a singular disorder at all but rather a variable grouping of eight different genetically based abnormalities."

 

[thebestinthewest]

I mentioned a while back that word on the street was he was on Risperdal

 

[Curious Me]

I mentioned a while back that word on the street was he was on Risperdal

Yes, I do remember you mentioned that particular drug. It seemed at the time you were leaning more towards Asperger's, but this RX is definitely prescribed for schizophrenia and symptoms of bipolar disorder, too.


http://www.drugs.com/risperdal.html

What is Risperdal?
Risperdal (risperidone) is a antipsychotic medicine. It works by changing the effects of chemicals in the brain.

Risperdal is used to treat schizophrenia and symptoms of bipolar disorder (manic depression). Risperdal is also used in autistic children to treat symptoms of irritability.

Risperdal is not approved for use in psychotic conditions related to dementia.

 

[Curious Me]

I just want to say that the question of whether another person was involved in these murders is still on my mind. It still stands to reason that someone could have manipulated CM especially if he was suffering from delusions of being a hit man. I still wonder if there was someone else involved.

 

[Curious Me]

Hope you all don't mind my parking some of these articles here as I am giving thought to how people suffering from schizophrenia can pull off such well-planned crimes, and if and how it is even possible. I have no conclusions, but certainly I'm not the only one that has trouble believing how some of these intricate crimes are pulled off by someone who should have trouble planning. Remember, CM almost got away with not being caught. Wonder what others think.

http://www.psy-journal.com/article/S0165-1781(04)00239-2/fulltext
"Patients with schizophrenia have deficits in executive function that involve attentional set-shifting and planning ability. It is unclear, however, whether such deficits are stable during the course of the illness or if they fluctuate in response to medication effects or symptom changes."

http://schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/004220.html
"Executive function is the complex, goal-oriented ability to plan and to organize. It includes sequencing, initiating, and sustaining behavior, as well as incorporating feedback and making progressive adjustments in order to achieve the desired goal."

"The two methods used to test executive function were the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Trail Making Test (TMT)."

Schizophrenia Research
Planning impairments in schizophrenia: Specificity, task independence and functional relevance
http://www.psychologie.uni-heidelberg.de/ae/allg/mitarb/jf/Holt etal 2013 planning impairments.pdf

 

[Curious Me]

Please may I add one more site, and then I will retire to mull this subject over in my mind.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia/index.shtml
"The risk of violence among people with schizophrenia is small. But people with the illness attempt suicide much more often than others. About 10 percent (especially young adult males) die by suicide. It is hard to predict which people with schizophrenia are prone to suicide. If you know someone who talks about or attempts suicide, help him or her find professional help right away."

"People with schizophrenia are not usually violent."

then about medications -

Antipsychotic medications have been available since the mid-1950's. The older types are called conventional or "typical" antipsychotics. Some of the more commonly used typical medications include:
Chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
Haloperidol (Haldol)
Perphenazine (Etrafon, Trilafon)
Fluphenazine (Prolixin).

In the 1990's, new antipsychotic medications were developed. These new medications are called second generation, or "atypical" antipsychotics.

and further down page -

Other atypical antipsychotics were also developed. None cause agranulocytosis. Examples include:
Risperidone (Risperdal)
Olanzapine (Zyprexa)
Quetiapine (Seroquel)
Ziprasidone (Geodon)
Aripiprazole (Abilify)
Paliperidone (Invega).

 

[Barbarella]

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia/index.shtml
"The risk of violence among people with schizophrenia is small. But people with the illness attempt suicide much more often than others. About 10 percent (especially young adult males) die by suicide. It is hard to predict which people with schizophrenia are prone to suicide. If you know someone who talks about or attempts suicide, help him or her find professional help right away."

"People with schizophrenia are not usually violent."

.

Thanks for pointing that out Curious Me. I have a cousin who is schizophrenic and he tried to kill himself a couple of times. He was never violent to anyone but himself. Most males show signs of the disease by late teens or early twenties. It can be pretty much controlled as long as the person takes their medication. But often people think they don't need it anymore and they stop and then the voices and hallucinations start. From what I've seen and heard about schizophrenia, it does seem very unusual that CM could have masterminded this whole entire elaborate murder of three people (he supposedly didn't even know) all by himself and not get caught until many months later. I still am leaning towards the opinion that he was used by someone else to carry out this crime. It just doesn't seem feasible that he acted alone.

 

[SDNV]

I hope the prosecutor asks for a trial to determine competence. I may just be cynical, but I don't trust the defense funded doctors opinions alone. I would also be depressed if I were sitting in a cell at the SD county jail knowing that my life, as I knew it, was over. This could just be a ploy by the defense to avoid the death penalty. If CM has been truly been suffering from serious mental disorders then he was most likely also not capable of planning and executing a plan to kill multiple related people and two different times. If he was not capable of this, then he should cooperate and identify who planned the murders and directed him. JMO.

 

[SDHELPS]

I just want to say that the question of whether another person was involved in these murders is still on my mind. It still stands to reason that someone could have manipulated CM especially if he was suffering from delusions of being a hit man. I still wonder if there was someone else involved.

I agree that logic would tell us that he did not act alone. That being said, IMO CM would never take the fall alone if someone else was involved. Of course right now he not doing anything to assist in his defense but I hope with proper treatment he will be able to stand trial. I wonder if his attorney would seek the "not guilty by reason of insanity" plea? And I also agree his state of catatonic depression is a result of his incarceration.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insanity_Defense_Reform_Act Also take a peek at John Hinckley, Jr. linked in this article. He also suffered from schizophrenia.

So we have 3 doctors, one court appointed and 2 requested by the defense saying he is incompetent. I feel pretty sure that the DA will exercise his right to request an evaluation on Monday as well.

MOO

 

[SDHELPS]

Round 2 today at 9:00 am on competency hearing for Carlo Mercado...

http://www.cbs8.com/story/27192561/mental-competency-hearing-for-triple-murder-suspect

A mental competency hearing was scheduled Monday for a man accused in the fatal shootings of three people...
On Oct. 27, a court-appointed psychiatrist found Mercado incompetent to stand trial, but prosecutors asked for more time to evaluate the finding.

 

[colette]

If he was a paranoid schizophrenic, he could plan. Paranoid schizophrenics usually seem normal until you find the area of paranoia. They are fixed in their beliefs and harder to treat. They can plan and think things down to the smallest detail. Maybe he had some idea that Ilona was out to get him or that she was a member of a group of people who were out to get him, and he planned to kill them before they killed him. Or he is acting to minimize his guilt.

 

[thebestinthewest]

I still think he has killed before. I know there were small children in the Mercado house it kind of makes me wonder if the family worried about him being around the kids at any point or even if he was good with kids. I just don't see Gianni, Sal, and Ilona being such a threat to anyone's drug business or otherwise for such an elaborate murder. Yeah they experimented with drugs but they hid it well from family and there lives were reasonably put together for their ages Gianni and Sal were owners of the restaurant with their father. Although the restaurant is not a gold mine it's still relatively successful and as far money issues go with the family and someone being that angry I feel it breaks down to who did not get effected by the recession in one way or another especially restaurants because people were cutting down on going out etc. I think he may have had some infatuation with Ilona possibly when he was going to the comic book store in the mall or passing Cathy Jean to go to the anime store across the street from the mall.

 

[SDHELPS]

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...endant-Hospital-Carlo-Mercado--281328151.html

In a nutshell this is what happened. Other media televised reports state that if his competency can be restored in less time the case will go to trial. Once those media airings have been posted I will add here.

They did also mention that there is always the possibility he will never be competent :banghead: And paraphrasing here that they are being very clear this has to do with his current status and has nothing to do with what his mental capacity was at the time of the killings.

On Monday, Judge Joseph P. Brannigan found Mercado not competent to stand trial and ordered he be treated at Patton State Hospital for three years or until he is found competent to assist in his own defense.

Bessie or Mods correct me if I'm wrong but will this thread be moved to "awaiting trial" soon? And does that mean that we will not be able to post on it until new information comes out? TIA :tyou:

 

[SDHELPS]

If he was a paranoid schizophrenic, he could plan. Paranoid schizophrenics usually seem normal until you find the area of paranoia. They are fixed in their beliefs and harder to treat. They can plan and think things down to the smallest detail. Maybe he had some idea that Ilona was out to get him or that she was a member of a group of people who were out to get him, and he planned to kill them before they killed him. Or he is acting to minimize his guilt.

Thanks for the insight colette! Could it be that his "area of paranoia" emerged once he was put in jail? On todays news reports they also confirmed that he did try to commit suicide his first night there. We all kind of put that together from the reports about Tylenol back then but it was never confirmed.

 

[Curious Me]

If he was a paranoid schizophrenic, he could plan. Paranoid schizophrenics usually seem normal until you find the area of paranoia. They are fixed in their beliefs and harder to treat. They can plan and think things down to the smallest detail. Maybe he had some idea that Ilona was out to get him or that she was a member of a group of people who were out to get him, and he planned to kill them before they killed him. Or he is acting to minimize his guilt.

You got me thinking along these lines, Colette. Seems possible.

Elaborate murders, I'll agree with that, Best. Why? What was so important to him? Or to somebody that hired him? Figure he nabbed Gianni first and then still had to wait and go after Ilona, but he didn't really know if Sal would show up. It does appear he hung around to go after Ilona.

At first, it seemed like there was a real reason he went after them. However, these were elaborate crimes, but what if it makes no sense.

Didn't the investigation turn up any possible motive?

 

[Curious Me]

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...endant-Hospital-Carlo-Mercado--281328151.html

In a nutshell this is what happened. Other media televised reports state that if his competency can be restored in less time the case will go to trial. Once those media airings have been posted I will add here.

They did also mention that there is always the possibility he will never be competent :banghead: And paraphrasing here that they are being very clear this has to do with his current status and has nothing to do with what his mental capacity was at the time of the killings.

On Monday, Judge Joseph P. Brannigan found Mercado not competent to stand trial and ordered he be treated at Patton State Hospital for three years or until he is found competent to assist in his own defense.

Bessie or Mods correct me if I'm wrong but will this thread be moved to "awaiting trial" soon? And does that mean that we will not be able to post on it until new information comes out? TIA :tyou:

Thanks for the update. Up to three years!
My prayers go out to all the Family and Friends of Gianni, Ilona, and Salvatore.

Mission Valley Triple Killing Defendant Ordered to State Hospital
Monday, Nov 3, 2014 • Updated at 11:11 AM PST
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...endant-Hospital-Carlo-Mercado--281328151.html

"Search warrants obtained by NBC 7 reveal the exhaustive investigation into the triple homicide case, but still, no motive."

Source: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loc...l-Carlo-Mercado--281328151.html#ixzz3I2SB2cYN

BBM